Car Insurance: Fully Comprehensive or Third Party ?

Question

Plain English please: what is the difference between FULLY COMPREHENSIVE and THIRD PARTY FIRE AND THEFT car insurance? I have an old ford escort.

Answer 1

Third party car insurance is normally the cheapest of the insurance policy levels. It covers any third party (not you or your car) in the event of an accident. It also protects any passengers you might be carrying at the time of an accident.

Lets take a look at an example of how this would work. We have two drivers and two cars, Person A + Car A and Person B + Car B.

Person A has his/her car insured with third party cover, person B's insurance cover is irrelevant. Person A pulls out in front of Person B and causes an accident and as a result Person A admits he/she was at fault.

In this situation Person A's insurance company would pay to repair or replace Person B's cars, they would also pay for any injuries or treatment to Person B if the need arose.

However, as Person A is only covered third party, their car will be not covered and therefore the insurance company will not pay for any repairs or damage to car A.

Also, as the policy only offers thid party protection, your insurer will not pay out in the even of a fire or theft of your car.

Third party fire and theft has the same level of cover as third party insurance, however, it also has the additional cover in the event of a fire or theft of your vehicle.

TPFT insurance is normally only slightly more expensive than a third party policy, so it is often worth considering paying a little more for the extra protection.

Fully comprehensive car insurance policies cover pretty much everything in the event of an accident, theft or fire.

If your vehicle is involved in an accident, written off, stolen or burnt out it will be fully repaired or the insurer will pay out the current market value of the car. The car will also be covered against accidental damage caused by yourself or another party.

As with all types of cover it depends on the actual insurance policy as to what is covered. We recommend you take a look at the "Extras to Consider" page which outlines insurance extras and highlights what isn't always included with some insurers.




Check out this link for a down to earth explanation:

http://www.carinsuranceexplained.com/types_of_car_insurance_cover/types_of_car_insurance_cover.htm

Answer 2

In that case I would get third party fire and theft which basically means that you are covered for damage to others vehicles but not for the repair of your own if you are at fault. If someone else hits you then your car would be fixed by their insurance.

To further complicate this I recently quote a cheaper quote from the same broker for fully comp than third party so it's worth asking for both.

If you do go fully comp and make a claim against your own insurance (you hit someone or someone damages your car and runs off) then your premium will go up and it may have been cheaper to fix it yourself. The only good thing about fully comp is the courtesy car option. I would have been stuffed in the past without this BUT if you are hit by someone else their ins co should provide this, it just makes it easier to claim it on yours and for them to claim it from them.

All car insurance is a con get the cheapest with the best options.

Answer 3

Hello,

The basic difference is.

Comprehensive includes everything (usually, read the fine print of any policy, they also always include an excess. i.e. the amount of money you must pay before the insurance company will pay out. usually around €250) from other parties to damage you do to your car including windscreens for example.

Third party includes damage from a third party and or fire or criminal damage. It does not cover you for example if you lets say mill into a wall!! so you have a beat up old ford. go for TPF&T I do and I still pay around €900.00

Thanks,hope this helps.

Answer 4

If you wholly own your car ( not making payments ) then you
only need liability insurance on an old ford escort.
Fully Comprehensive covers everyone & everything including
the repair of your own car.
Third Party simply covers fire/theft experienced by others.

Answer 5

Third party covers you against the damage you do to others only when you are at fault. Fire and theft are usuaully added and hardly cost any extra. Fully comprehensive covers you as well if the other party is not clearly at fault and has to pay for your loss, or if you just drive into something. There are usually quite a few extras too.

Answer 6

You should not get confused by the term comprehensive.
That means the car is additionally insured for fire and theft.
But this doesn't necessarily mean you are being covered for third party on other vehicles.

Have fun

Johnnie (don't know why my parents did not pick Johnny ;))

Answer 7

Okay, let's answer your question properly.

Third Party Fire & Theft covers damage to someone else's property (e.g. the other car), plus damage to your car resulting from fire or its theft. It does not cover damage to your own car resulting from an accident (or driving into a wall!)

Fully Comp does all that, PLUS it covers damage to your own car.

Only you will know if you consider the extra premium costs for fully comp to be worth it.

Answer 8

When you crash your car you will not get any money for a new one unless you are Fully Comprehensive
AS the title suggests THIRD PARTY (injuries or damage caused by you) FIRE AND THEFT (of or from your car) Are only covered by this policy

Answer 9

Fully comprehensive covers ANYTHING that happens to your car while it is legally parked. I believe that third party fire and theft only covers your car if someone steels it or sets it on fire. Comprehensive does not cover accidents. Only collision coverage covers that.

Answer 10

fully comp covers the damage to your car as well as the one you hit. Third party only covers the other vehicle, on an old car which is not worth a lot its just as well only to pay third party and save your self a good chunk of money. Third party normally includes fire and theft so if its nicked you can still make a claim